UPDATED: For new details, see below
Elections BC posted results from its final count Wednesday, meaning numbers are final in all ridings except Coquitlam-Maillardville, where there will be a judicial recount.
The following are some of the interesting numbers I pulled from the results.
– Unofficial turnout among eligible voters is about 54.5%. That’s up significantly from 2009, when it was 51 per cent. But it is also down from 2005 (58%) and 2001 (55%)... Read More …

Ottawa-based Campaign Research released information Wednesday that it says shows that voters in B.C. began turning on the New Democratic Party after the televised debate.
The company’s polling found the NDP entered the B.C. election campaign with just a five-point gap over the BC Liberals — significantly less than what other polling companies were identifying at the time. On March 12, a publicly-released Campaign Research poll put the NDP at 38 per cent support, the ... Read More …

Retiring BC Liberal politician George Abbott has helped establish a Victoria-based consulting firm to help advise people on how to get what they need from government.
Called Circle Square Solutions, the firm describes itself as follows:
Today’s governments and businesses face a complex (and sometimes byzantine and frustrating!) world of legislation, regulation, policy and practice. Your operating environment may sometimes feel more like a minefield than a level playing field. Circle Square Solutions is ... Read More …

Final count in the provincial election begins Monday, and observers will be keeping a close eye on six ridings where the margin between first and second place is less than 400 votes.
Of those six, three are now being led by the NDP, and the other three by the BC Liberals.
Elections BC does not have an exact number of the absentee ballots that will be added as part of next week’s final count (votes ... Read More …

The cover of Vancouver’s 24 Hours newspaper today bears a picture of a beaming Christy Clark, and the headline “comeback kid”.
But the piece is not written by a reporter. Or placed there by an editor. It’s a paid advertisement by the BC Liberal Party.
“We’re looking for opportunities to speak to people about where it is we stand,” Clark told reporters in Penticton.
“There’s lots of advertising all the parties are doing ... Read More …

The New Democratic Party has been forced to dump one of its candidates, less than two hours into the provincial election.
In a short written statement, NDP leader Adrian Dix said he had been “made aware of unacceptable comments made by Kelowna-Mission NDP candidate Dayleen van Ryswyk.”
“I have accepted Ms. Van Ryswyk’s resignation. A new BC NDP candidate will be announced shortly,” he continued in the brief statement.
The decision came after the ... Read More …

On Tuesday night, BC Liberal campaign director Mike McDonald appears to have scooped the government on a carbon tax announcement, sending the following update to Liberal insiders, media and others who have been included on his campaign distribution list:
Carbon Tax Freeze
Today, the BC Liberal government announced it will freeze the carbon tax at its current level for five years to give other jurisdictions time to follow our leadership.
BC is a world-leader and ... Read More …

New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix released an online advertisement Monday — April Fool’s Day — to take on the ubiquitous BC Liberal Party attack that the province suffered a dismal decade of decline under the NDP in the 1990s.
“Adrian Dix. Architect of the decade of despair, destruction, disappointment and desperation,” says the tongue-in cheek advertisement.
“He’s risky. You can’t afford him. The inventor of Dixonomics,” it continues, parroting the various BC Liberal attack ... Read More …

Last December, the government named former lieutenant-governor Steven Point as a “champion” to oversee the government’s response to the missing women’s report.
“The Honourable Steven Point, former Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, has been selected to be this champion and will chair a new advisory committee on the safety and security of vulnerable women,” said a news release at the time.
“This committee will provide community-based guidance on the report’s 63 recommendations and two additional ... Read More …

B.C. Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger says he regrets the language, but he is not apologizing for calling all members of the B.C. Conservative Party “unmitigated morons”, “idiots” and “scum”.
Krueger’s missive came on Tuesday, after B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins publicly called for Minister of Jobs Tourism and Skills Training Pat Bell to be immediately suspended from cabinet.
Cummins’ full news release is as follows:
Suspend Bell and expand investigation, Cummins
LANGLEY, BC, FEB. ... Read More …

Today I wrote about a letter from the presidents of British Columbia’s six health authorities, slamming the government for trying to negotiate a 10-year deal with the province’s nurses.
Noteworthy the letter came the day after the provincial budget, where the government signaled an intention to rein in health spending.
For those who want to see the full letter, it is as follows:... Read More …

Premier Christy Clark’s former chief of staff Ken Boessenkool surfaced today announcing he’d teamed up with top strategists Brian Topp and Don Guy to form a new consulting company: Kool Topp & Guy.
It’s notable for the obvious reason: Boessenkool has gone dark since last fall when he was forced to resign as Clark’s chief of staff.
But more interesting, is the other two names on the company letterhead.
On one side of the ... Read More …

New Democratic Party MLA Harry Lali has apologized for sending a partisan press release from his constituency office earlier this week.
“While I acknowledge that my press release of Jan. 28, 2013, was inadvertently sent out of my MLA constituency office, it was an honest mistake,” Lali said in a written statement.
“I take full responsibility and will ensure it does not happen again.”
Lali’s apology came just after BC Liberal MLA John Les asked ... Read More …

BC Liberal MLA John Les launched a complaint today, asking Speaker Bill Barisoff to investigate a press release that New Democratic Party MLA HArry Lali sent from his constituency office earlier this week.
“It’s been reported that Mr. Lali used constituency office resources to publish and issue a news release that strayed far from his role as an MLA,” wrote Les, who is also Parliamentary Secretary to Premier Christy Clark.
“It contained personal comments and ... Read More …

New Democratic Party organizers are ramping up throughout the province to ready their organizations for May’s provincial election.
That was the message delivered in a fundraising message over the weekend by the party’s campaign director, Brian Topp.
“I set a deadline to hire the organizers we needed to win back in September,” Topp said in the email.
“Folks like you responded and added $200,000 for our election readiness fund and put our first team ... Read More …

In an interview Thursday, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Bill Bennett criticized NDP leader Adrian Dix for flying to Los Angeles this week to meet with film industry executives.
“I can tell Mr. Dix from personal experience over the time that I’ve had this ministry — since September, and I had it in 2009/10 as well — that everyone he needs to talk to is right here in Vancouver. He doesn’t need ... Read More …

Premier Christy Clark’s former director of communications, Sara MacIntyre, has left the government.
MacIntyre came to B.C. last March, fresh from a job as press secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She came here not long after the arrival of Ken Boessenkool, Clark’s then chief of staff.
But then came Boessenkool’s abrupt resignation, and last October MacIntyre was moved out of the premier’s office and into the government’s communications arm — Government ... Read More …

The B.C. Legislature is likely to sit just five weeks before breaking for the next election, B.C. Liberal house leader Mike de Jong said Wednesday.
De Jong said that, as is the custom, the legislature will not follow the full parliamentary calendar because of the scheduled election on May 14.
“Given we’re in an election year, I can’t imagine the house sitting in April or May,” he said in an interview.
He added, however: “I ... Read More …

Ever wonder what it takes to find out the details of how tax dollars are spent?
Here’s an example involving a trip Energy Minister and Deputy Premier Rich Coleman took, along with one of his staff, to Europe from July 25 to Aug 7.
The trip involved a stop at the Olympic Games in London, but also included many government items as well. Using the province’s freedom of information laws, I was able to ... Read More …